Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Scandal of lawyers caught in insurance fraud kickbacks spread to Scotland

It was recently reported in the Times newspaper that several firms of solicitors south of the border are being investigated alongside many claims handling companies for alleged insurance fraud ...

Rumours now circulating in the Scots legal fraternity claim many of our 'top notch' legal firms have been receiving insurance kickbacks for years .. one 'well respected' Edinburgh solicitor who was named to a Scottish reporter, is claimed to have been in tow with several insurance companies for years .. possibly accounting for the 9 cars he owns, together with four houses ...

The Times reports :

Solicitors face inquiry over insurance fraud kickbacks

Frances Gibb, Legal Editor

Ten solicitors’ firms are being investigated with dozens of accident claims-handling companies for alleged insurance fraud.

The investigation, reported in the Solicitors’ Journaltoday, is being undertaken by the Insurance Fraud Bureau.

The alleged frauds involve law firms paying kickbacks to claims-handling companies for work. This is legal if it is open and transparent, but some of the claims turn out to be fraudulent.

Law firms may be unaware that the claims being made are fraudulent but could still be guilty, according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau. Sue Jones, head of unit at the bureau, is urging partners of law firms to keep accurate records of clients and cases referred to them by claims management firms.

“If you’ve paid a referral fee to a claims management company and you end up taking money into your client account from a fraudulent claim, then you could be facilitating that fraud.”

If insurers were saying consistently that they did not believe an accident took place, solicitors should review the claim, she said.

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